The following information was assembled from numerous sources and cannot be used directly as proof of Qualifying Service or Lineage.
It is considered a research aid and is intended to assist in locating sources that can be used as proof.
State of Service: MD
Qualifying Service: Patriotic Service
Author: Frank Grady Hall III
The Turners immigrated to Maryland in 1649 from England. Arthur Turner, the progenitor of the Turners in Charles County, Maryland, had little interest in politics until the overthrow of the Proprietary Government of the Puritans in 1654. He then became a delegate to the General Assembly held on the Patuxet. He was a follower of Oliver Cromwell or at least had a political alignment to Cromwell’s political ideas. He was a friend of John Hatch and Richard Smith who were likewise members of the Puritan Political Party. He probably was an accomplice to the attempted Fendall’s Rebellion in 1661.
William Turner, the son of Eleanor Wilson and Edward Turner and the grandson of Arthur Turner, was born on December 14, 1737, in Charles County, Maryland. He married Anne Rayle on April 2, 1759, in Wilmington, Delaware.
By the will of his father in 1773 he received a portion of "Turner's Forest" in Charles County and also several negroes. He married his cousin Rhoda Dent, born Nov 4, 1744, in Charles County, the daughter of Hatch Dent and Anne Chapman, his wife. The marriage occurred on July 1, 1764. They had eight sons and four daughters together between 1765 and 1784. There oldest son, John Turner, was with the group that migrated to Rowan County in 1795 under the leadership of Reverend Hatch Dent.
During the Revolutionary War, William provided patriotic service by providing supplies to the Army. He was a planter in Charles County, working the plantation he inherited from his father in 1773. He took the Oath of Allegiance in Charles County, Maryland in March 1778. He executed his last will and testament on Nov. 17, 1801 and it was probated in Charles County on Jan 2, 1802.
To son William 50 pounds and personally.....to son Samuel a portion of "Turner's Forest" containing 116 acres and a portion of "Turner's Addition" of 61 acres. Risiduary estate to "surviving children" unnamed. Executor---son William.
He died on January 2, 1801 and is buried in Charles County, Maryland, at the age of 63.
Reference: Kent, Jean Young, Waters, Turner, Wilson, Hatch-Families of Maryland, Fort Worth, T
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